THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN NEAR SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO BY MY GOOD FRIEND ROBERT PELHAM. He and another friend were off road on an ATV. After about 6 miles and at least a thousand feet of climbing we came to a strangely lush high mountain valley.. with strange trees! Rather tall trees with very unusual bark. These trees were growing quite densely, they were up to about 60 feet tall, and the leaves were somewhat like Elm but less rough and glossier. The bark is really weird. DOES ANYONE HAVE A SUGGESTION AS TO WHAT KIND OF TREES THESE COULD BE?
Very cool. Was this in Gila Nat'l Forest? I was in the area last year, and intend to go back. I'd be interested in learning the location of this if it is on public-accessible land (and if that's possible). I haven't been able to figure what this is yet, but all my books re: plants of the southwest are at home.
Thank you all for your responses. As I was not on this little soujourn I will have to get with the actual soujourner and request specifics about location and if he might have an identifiable photo of the foliage. The area could indeed be the Gila National Forest or at least very near to it on Bureau of Land Management land. And to my knowledge it is publicly accessible. Bob and his fellow sounjourner were traveling in a 4 x 4 ATV vehicle and as I understand it, the terrain was quite steep and mountainous.
It is my understanding after speaking with Mr. Pelham that the area is not Gila National Forest, but is located on BLM land adjacent to Gila National Forest. It is accessible to the public. He has also supplied me with the attached photo looking up from ground level into the canopy. There are also collected leaf specimens which may be a little dried out by now, but he will also send me a photograph of them in the immediate future. I am also enclosing a photo of the forest with the trees. There are several trees nearby with similarly unusual bark patterns, so it does not appear to be an anomaly. Thank you for your continued interest and assistance.
Well, I remain stumped on this one, even after browsing through the usually-reliable Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Uplands. That leaf photo might help.
I was wondering about Celtis reticulata, but the bark doesn't fit fully. What the bark reminds me of most is Juniperus deppeana, but that doesn't have elm-like leaves (!).
Yes, the text accompanying Celtis reticulata in that book starts off with "If you see a tree in the southwest uplands that looks like an elm, but isn't - it's the hackberry, a member of the elm family." But I agree - the bark is off.
The tree with the strange bark looks like alligator juniper, Juniperus deppeana. Not sure the other photos are of the same type of tree as the one with the strange bark.